The DOI matches its Crossref record; 49 of the 50 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Clear and present questions: formulating questions for evidence based practice
Abstract
Purpose The paper seeks to provide an overview and update of thinking in relation to the theory and practice of formulation of answerable research questions within evidence based information practice. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews the healthcare and information literature on question formulation, augmented by structured and purposive internet searches. Findings Although a few key authors have published extensively on all aspects of the evidence‐based information practice process, including question formulation, there is little in the way of empirical research. Research limitations/implications In the absence of an empirical research base from within the specific domain of information practice, this conceptual paper extrapolates findings from healthcare research to general librarianship. Practical implications This article models the process of question formulation using a proposed conceptual framework (SPICE) and encourages practitioners to identify their own practice‐based questions. Originality/value This is the first article specifically to address question formulation for a general (i.e. non‐health) library audience.
Overview
Integrity signals
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Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Citations
Cites
The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action
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Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Bexon, N. (2005), “Evidence‐based librarianship can be adopted by practising librarians, but there needs to be a greater emphasis on identifying relevant questions and applying the appraised evidence to real life”, paper presented at the Implementation of Quality Systems and Certification of Biomedical Libraries, EAHIL Workshop, Palermo, 23‐25 June.
- Eldredge, J.D. (2001), “The most relevant and answerable research questions facing the practice of health sciences librarianship”, Hypothesis, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 3‐5, available at: http://168.17.205.219/mla/research/Hypo2001v.15%20no.1.pdf.
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- Richardson, W.S. and Wilson, M.C. (1997), “On questions, background and foreground”, Evidence Based Healthcare Newsletter, Vol. 17, pp. 8‐9.
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PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation
Tricco, A. C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O'Brien, K. K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Moher, D., Peters, M. D. J., Horsley, T., Weeks, L., et al. (2018) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/m18-0850 · Cited by 43,565
Beyond PICO: The SPIDER Tool for Qualitative Evidence Synthesis
Cooke, A., Smith, D., & Booth, A. (2012) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732312452938 · Cited by 2,608
Self-citationEriksen, M. B., & Frandsen, T. F. (2018) · Journal of the Medical Library Association · doi:10.5195/jmla.2018.345 · Cited by 1,216
Muka, T., Glišić, M., Milić, J., Verhoog, S., Bohlius, J., Bramer, W. M., Chowdhury, R., & Franco, O. H. (2019) · European Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s10654-019-00576-5 · Cited by 723
Cooper, C., Booth, A., Varley-Campbell, J., Britten, N., & Garside, R. (2018) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/s12874-018-0545-3 · Cited by 561
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Booth, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Booth, Andrew
- ORCID
- Booth, Andrew
- Venue
- Library Hi Tech
- Publisher
- Emerald
- Published
- 2006-07-01
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 355-368
- ISSN
- 0737-8831 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2112145696
- Cited by
- 344
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 50 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 18.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Library Hi Tech (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Information Literacy
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Sciences Research and Education
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Information
- Keywords
- question generation, research question formulation, information practices, conceptual framework
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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